INSIGHTS: Wild Play

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Wild play Endangered Activity? Play (Tākaro) is a vital part of children’s development, and the right to play is in legislation. But do children get enough opportunities to play in ways adults consider ‘risky’? And what are the benefits? This second in our Play series (click here for our first Insights) explores wild play.

Play is spontaneity, freedom and fun. We get so involved we lose sense of time and place. We learn, connect and grow through play.

Play is defined as activity that is: •

engaging with high levels of involvement, engrossment and intrinsic motivation

imaginative, creative, and non-literal

voluntary or freely chosen, personally directed (often child-initiated) and free from externally imposed rules

fluid and active but also guided by mental rules and high levels of communication about communication which give it structure

process-driven rather than productdriven, with no extrinsic goals.

Benefits of Play There are also immediate benefits [for children] from spending time in nature, such as higher positive affect, increased energy, and less anger 1...time outdoors may also promote pro-social behaviours.2

NZRA Insights Report – Fight, Flight or Freeze in the Red Zone

Figure 1 Source: nzherald.org.nz

The benefits of play include:

Wellbeing, both physical and mental health

Academic and cognitive benefits – play supports exploratory skills and discovery, the use of abstract thought and symbols, communication and oral language skills, verbal intelligence, imagination and creativity

Social and emotional benefits include social skills, and the ability to build resilience

Physical benefits – large and small body muscle development, motor skills; the physicality of play impacts on cognitive function, behavioural and cognitive control.

Wild play Children’s entitlement to space and time for outdoor play is a matter of values, not just evidence. It is one example of what has been called spatial justice, or “the fair and equitable distribution in space of socially valued resources and the opportunities to use them”3[Tim Gill, rethinkingchildhood.com]

Around 85% of NZ’s population lives in urban centres so local access to natural neighbourhoods is vital, in particular for children from lower income families. As well as anxiety about the impact of the digital age there are other stealth threats to free outdoor play.

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